Philippines
Philippines says China to donate half a million COVID-19 vaccines
President Rodrigo Duterte's administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of COVID-19 vaccines for the country's 110 million people, after being criticised...
No vaccine has been approved by the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is required before it can be rolled out across the country of 110 million people.
The Catholic-majority country has one of the lowest ages of consent in the world, allowing adults to legally have sex with children as young as 12.
Charities are struggling to meet the ever-growing demand for food as millions of families go hungry across the country.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes ahead of the typhoon and many of them remain in evacuation centres as authorities scramble to restore power and telecommunications services in the hardest-hit areas.
The strongest typhoon of the year also triggered deadly landslides that buried a number of houses in the southern part of the most populous island of Luzon, officials said.
Moscow says it has developed the world's first vaccine offering 'sustainable immunity' against the virus and is in the final stage of tests involving 2,000 people.
The Southeast Asian nation’s economy shrank by 16.5% in April-June from the same period last year PHGDP=ECI - the biggest slump in the government’s quarterly GDP data dating back to 1981.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases had increased to 112,593, while deaths rose by 11 to 2,115.
The country recorded eight new coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 704.
About half the country's roughly 110 million people are currently under quarantine, including millions in deep poverty, left jobless by tough restrictions on movement.
The crater of the volcano exploded to life with towering clouds of ash and jets of red-hot lava on Sunday, forcing those living around the mountain south of Manila to rush to safety.
Experts fear that hazardous explosive eruptions may be looming after the Taal volcano started spewing on Sunday. #Volcano #Philippines #TaalVolcano
The Taal volcano generated a 1 km high ash plume accompanied by rumbling sounds and tremors earlier in the day.
The storm, with wind gusts of up to 200 kilometres per hour, swept across remote villages and popular tourist destinations in the central Philippines on Wednesday.
Typhoon Phanfone hit the Philippines late on Tuesday with winds of up to 120km/h and gusts of 150km/h, heavy rain and flooding.
The typhoon toppled houses and trees and blacked-out cities in the Philippines' most storm-prone region, but no deaths were reported.
Sunday's tremor cracked schools, toppled homes and injured dozens but largely spared big cities on the island of Mindanao, which is still recovering from a string of deadly quakes in October.
General manager Ed Monreal told reporters on Monday that the airlines and the Manila International Airport Authority decided to close the airport.